Dear Families,

Thank you to all of our families who came to the Sacrament meeting at Sacred Heart in Morwell on Thursday night. We appreciate your attendance to find out how you can support your child at home in their preparation to receive their Sacraments.

Congratulations to our children who participated in the Swimming events last week also. Our girls who competed showed great resilience and problem solving in ensuring they had enough swimmers for the relay event. Well done to all who represented Lumen Christi.

We also had our first Parents and Friends meeting here at school last week. Thank you to those parents who came along and joined the group. Parents and Friends are predominantly an events and fundraising group who work to raise money for worthwhile projects to benefit our children. The group always needs new faces and many hands make light work. If you are interested in being involved please come and ask at the school office.

There is another group called the School Advisory Committee whose role is to give a parent perspective to me as the Principal in decisions relating to the running of the school. This groups meets once a term during and is generally an evening time meeting. If you are interested in joining this group, please contact me at: principal@churchill.catholic.edu.au

This week on February 13, it marks the anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, who suffered trauma because of past government policies of forced child removal.

Many of these removals occurred as the result of laws and policies aimed at assimilating the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population into the predominately white community.

Stolen Generations survivors are some of Australia’s most vulnerable people and many have kept their stories and experiences secret for many years, even decades.

Through hearing the resilient stories of Stolen Generations survivors there is now a willingness for Australians to join in on the healing journey. To be part of solutions into the future. This is the spirit of the anniversary.

Together as a school community, we pray for continued efforts towards understanding and healing for Indigenous Australians affected by this devastating part of our Nation’s history.

Next week, we celebrate the beginning of Lent. We will be celebrating with a whole school mass on Thursday next week (23^rd February) – all welcome.

Have a wonderful week,

Sally

Please take note of these dates for your family calendar

TERM 1 2023 DATES

Week 4

Week 5

22nd February - Ash Wednesday

23rd February - Whole School Mass @9:30am (Ash Wednesday)

25th/26th February - Commitment Mass 2 Reconciliation (Bring your Prayer Letter)

Week 6

Week 7

8th March - Dad's Night 5 - 6:30pm

10th March - Lumen Christi Sports Day

Week 8 - Prep Children Start Full Time at School this week

13th March - Labour Day Holiday

14th March - Games Night for all Year 3 students

15th March - NAPLAN Window Open for Year 3 & 5 Students

17th March - Back Up Sports Day (incase of cancellation)

Week 9

22nd & 23rd March - Parent Teacher Interviews

25th/26th March - Commitment Mass 3 Reconciliation (Receive your pin)

Week 10

30th March - Reconciliation Night @ Sacred Heart 5:30pm

Week 11

6th April -   Holy Thursday Pasison Play

                 Easter Raffle Drawn at school

                 End Term 1 Finish @ 12:30pm

TERM 2 DATES

 Week 1

24th April - School Closure Day

25th April - ANZAC Day holiday

26th April - Term 2 Begins for students

Week 2

2nd & 3rd May - Life Ed Van at School

Week 3

11th May - Mother's Day Stall

Week 4

Week 5

24th May - SCHOOL PHOTOS

Coming home this week, each family will receive a letter and instructions to complete the "Enhancing Catholic School Identity" Survey. This helps us to improve how we deliver Catholic education to our children. Parent opinion is important data for our school.

The survey takes about an hour to complete and is done online.

We would greatly appreciate your support.

Many thanks

Please be aware that there are many resources available to parents to learn about Cyber Safety as our children learn to navigate the many online spaces that they use such as social media and other internet sites.

Great advice and webinars can be found at the following website:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

We want to keep our kids safe, happy and healthy at school and online.

With many children having smart phones, tablets and other devices that connect to the internet and social media, it is important that parents are aware of the impact that this can have here at school.

For most social media platforms, the recommended age is 13. We understand though, that many of our children are using social media to keep connected with friends or because they enjoy viewing the content on videos and reels. Whilst we recommend that parents follow the recommended guidelines for social media use, this is a decision for parents and we respect that parents decide what is best for their children.

What is most important for children on social media outlets is that they understand three key things:

1. That they understand their responsibilities, especially around chat groups and online bullying and what to do should they experience it OR if someone else is being bullied.

2. That children know what is legal. We are not supposed to post photos of anyone else on social media without their consent. This can become a legal matter, especially if the photo posted is embarrassing in nature. Please remind children of this.

3. That children klnow their rights. Children must be aware of what to do if they are experiencing anything harmful on social media.

Please be aware that this becomes a very difficult area to deal with when issues arise on social media outside of school, that filter inside of school and cause problems amongst children in classrooms and on the playground. The school will always do our best to resolve issues with our children and families. We do ask parents to be aware that this is a common problem in Primary Schools with children who have not yet developed the maturity to understand their responsibilities and the consequences of poor online behaviour.

Children who bring a phone to school must hand it in to the office in the morning and collect it again at home time. Absoloutely no photos or videos of any sort should be taken in school uniform on the school grounds. This is a child safety issue.

I thank parents for supporting these important school expectations.